Waimea United Church of Christ

Luke 13:18-30“The First Last, The Big Little”

According
to Sociology Professor Michio Kaku, the number one indicator of future success
of a child is not the IQ test. In fact he makes the point that there are plenty
of really high IQ people who are at marginal subsistence in their own lives. I
have known a few. High intelligence is not the greatest thing in the world; it
may turn out to be a curse to some.

No,
according to Dr. Michio, the number one indicator of success for the future of
a child is the so-called “Marshmallow Test.” I am sure that you have all heard
of this test. It is very simply. You tell a child: “You may either have one
marshmallow now, or two marshmallows in an hour.” The child who chooses two
marshmallows will have the advantage in life of greater success. Why is that?

The
difference between one and the other is obviously delayed gratification and the
ability to see future events as real possibilities. This is in essence the
ability to recognize a plan for tomorrow. This is to a large extent one of the
most major differences between us humans and the rest of the animal world.

If I were
to go to my dog Nikos and tell him that he could eat one chicken right now, or
have two chickens the next day, he would just look at me and whimper for the
chicken! No offense to my dog, but he has no concept of tomorrow. That is why
when I come back late and see him at the gate of the kennel waiting for his
walk, and I am tired, and I start bargaining with him “I will take you on an
extra long walk tomorrow,” we always end up walking in the middle of the night.
He only knows the present. He only knows what he knows—that he wants to take
his walk when he sees me!

What does
this have to with our Bible reading for this day? Jesus is giving us a
marshmallow test that is really hard. Jesus is saying: “Here have a mustard
seed.” He promises that one day it will be a tree that will provide shade and
birds will be able to nest in its branches. However, today it is just a really
small and insignificant fleck in the palm of the hand. Unless you can see what
it will become, you probably would not even want it. It is not even a
marshmallow. This is an interesting test for us, no?

When I was
growing up, mustard was considered a weed in our yard. It would grow up out of
the ice plant on the hillside and have to be painstakingly hand weeded out. I
have lost many a gorgeous Saturday morning to pulling mustard! So, this I know
for sure, one little mustard seed can take over your yard in no time. Jesus
certainly got that right!

Jesus also
brings up a simile of yeast. This simile also strikes close to home. Yeast is
so small, and it is in the air all around us, and we do not even realize it. I
love the story of how yeast was discovered and what it was originally used for.
The story goes that in ancient Egypt, before they knew how to make bread, they
would take the wheat kernels and soak them in water to soften them into a mush
or gruel. This is the only way they knew how to eat it. The seeds are too hard
otherwise. One could easily break teeth for sure. The longer the mush stayed
mushy, the easier it was to eat. One day someone discovered that the mush was
getting foamy on top. The natural yeast that is in the air around us found a
host in the wheat mush and started a yeast colony.Then, someone added more water put a lid on it and created the
world’s first fermented yeast drink. That would be Egyptian beer. From beer, we
eventually gained the first bread as the yeast culture was then added to ground
wheat. And, also from beer we developed the buffalo chicken wing so that we
would want to drink more beer!

So, think
about what Jesus is giving us here! He is saying, “I will give you these little
bugs that are floating around in the air that you cannot see, but please know
one day you can make a pizza with it!” Just add the tomato and cheese
yourself.This is way, way, beyond that
marshmallow test. This stuff is in the air around us, and we do not even see
it. Is that not the Kingdom of God?

Is the Kingdom of God part of YOUR
plan for the future then? Or, would you rather just eat that marshmallow today?
When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we pray “Thy Kingdom Come!”We pray for it to come, but I wonder how
many of us really set our life’s plan on its breaking through into this world?
Are we looking forward to that two-marshmallow reward?

One of my favorite sayings from
Saint Paul is in his address to the church in Ephesus 2:19, “So you are no
longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints. . . .”
Hmmmm, think about that; we are no longer citizens of this world but rather of
the heavenly kingdom that is to come.

Remember Jesus when he stands
before Pilate in John 18:36 and proclaims that his Kingdom “is not of this world.”
That is right. The Kingdom of God is here. It is like the yeast in the air that
is about to be mixed with the flour. It is like the mustard seed about to be
planted. The King himself was here already, so we follow in that same sense of
citizenship to a Kingdom established with Jesus Christ.

Which Kingdom do you choose as your
state? Where is your citizenship? Now I know I am not supposed to get
political. So, excuse me for just one minute as I talk about migration. Not
here, but in Russia. Two years ago the Levada Institute, the last free pollster
in Russia at the time that has since been branded a “foreign agent” and forced
to close down under Putin, shared that of Russians between the ages of 18-35 an
even 40% admitted that they would like to leave Russia. Since then, 1.5 million
of them have done just that. That is actually greater than 1% of their general
population. If you are in a room of 5 people in Russia, 2 of them want to
follow you back home to the United States. That is for many reasons of
oppression that they suffer, but also the basic economic reason that the
average monthly household income in Russia is lower than that of India!

That was the reason for the Berlin
Wall and the Iron Curtain! It was to keep people in, not keep people out. When
the walls came down, the exodus started and still continues today. To be fair,
some folks have decided that they would want to live in Russia. The most famous
of these is Gerard Depardieu, the French actor, who asked for and was granted
citizenship in Russia after complaining that the taxes in France were too high.
Last week, Gerard Depardieu was indicted in Russia, also, for not paying his
taxes to the Putin government! Looks as if he will have to choose another
citizenship—again.

Jesus is talking about migrating to
the Kingdom of God. Why not? We already have citizenship rights there! Yet,
when we get to the door at the border, we hear that it is indeed a very narrow
door. Why should that be?

You know, our church actually has
narrow doors! Have you ever noticed that? The good thing about having narrow
doors is that nobody can slip by without being noticed. If you are a visitor,
it is really hard not to be met at a narrow door where you will receive you lei
from one of the deacons.

Obviously this must be the same
with the Kingdom of God. We have to come through one at a time. There be no
group entrance to this realm where Jesus is King! This was fresh idea for the
Jewish folk hearing this. You see, in Judaism you are saved because you belong
to the group that is considered “the chosen people of God.” There is little one
has to do to make it well into the next world. Your salvation is in the blood
of the generations that came before, not in the blood of the Savior who took
death upon himself that you may have eternal life.

Jesus is now claiming that we have
to stand individually before Jesus to be entered into the Kingdom. You cannot
just sneak by. You are going to have to be recognized. You are going to have to
have an individual personal relationship with the Savior without which when you
knock at the door, Jesus might not recognize you after all.

How many people will come in then?
That is the question that is asked. And, today there is much confusion among
some believers about this very issue. You may have heard that some believe that
only 144,000 will ever make it into heaven. That number is found in Revelation
7 for instance. Those who make this claim as being definitive have neglected to
keep on reading whereafter it says that the multitudes of multitudes will be
there in heaven worshipping their Lord. Let us never make the mistake of
reading one verse out of context. Please always consider the bigger picture of
what is being reported in the biblical text! Those who claim only 144,000 will
be saved are patently wrong for not reading the entire text.

Jesus goes on to state that the
first shall be last and that last first. The big shall be small and the small
big. So, as citizens of heaven, we should come to expect the unexpected.
Everything may be turned upside down through Jesus. It is just like those signs
in Hanapepe that read “The biggest little town on Kauai.” The kingdom of God is
the biggest little thing there is!

I want to close today with a bit of
science: According to scientists at the start of the Big Bang that created what
we know as our universe, at 10 to the –35th power of one second, the
observable universe was just about 17 centimeters big. That is about the size
of a soccer ball. And, if that is truly the case, then the next big bang is
just now the size of a mustard seed, but it will be the biggest little mustard
seed of all time!